The goal of this reply is to draw attention of the readers that the major problems rose in the short Comment authored by A.M. Mukhamedzhanov, X. Tang and D.Y. Pang (arXiv:1806.05921) are totally groundless.
The fusion reactions 12C(12C,a)20Ne and 12C(12C,p)23Na have been studied from E = 2.10 to 4.75 MeV by gamma-ray spectroscopy using a C target with ultra-low hydrogen contamination. The deduced astrophysical S(E)* factor exhibits new resonances at E <
= 3.0 MeV, in particular a strong resonance at E = 2.14 MeV, which lies at the high-energy tail of the Gamow peak. The resonance increases the present non-resonant reaction rate of the alpha channel by a factor of 5 near T = 8x10^8 K. Due to the resonance structure, extrapolation to the Gamow energy E_G = 1.5 MeV is quite uncertain. An experimental approach based on an underground accelerator placed in a salt mine in combination with a high efficiency detection setup could provide data over the full E_G energy range.
New experimental data for the 12C+12C reaction have been measured in the centre-of-mass energy range E_{c.m.}= 40 to 60 MeV. Excitation functions for a number of single and mutual $^{12}$C inelastic channels have been measured which include the 0_{gs
}, 2_{1}^+, 0_{2}^+, 3_{1}^-, and 4$_1^+$ 12C states. All of the reactions display largely unstructured excitation functions over this energy range. The absence of further resonances in this energy region for the 12C(12C,2C[3_1^-])12C[3_1^-$] reaction confirms theoretical predictions of the termination of the band of resonances found at lower centre-of-mass energies in this channel.
The gamma-decay properties of 24Mg excited states are investigated in the inverse reaction 24Mg+12C at E(24Mg) = 130 MeV. At this energy the direct inelastic scattering populates a 24Mg* energy region where 12C+12C breakup resonances can occur. Very
exclusive data were collected with the Binary Reaction Spectrometer (BRS) in coincidence with EUROBALL installed at the VIVITRON Tandem facility of the IReS at Strasbourg. The experimental detection system is decribed and preliminary results of binary reaction coincid data are presented.
In the present work, we report our in depth study of 12C(p,pgamma)12C reaction both experimentally and theoretically with proton beam energy ranging from 8 MeV to 22 MeV. The angular distributions were measured at six different angles. We discuss the
gamma angular distributions, total cross sections values for 4.438, 9.64, 12.7 and 15.1 MeV states. We also describe the theoretical interpretation of our measurements using optical model analysis. We also report the branching ratios from our measurements. For the first time, we have measured the the cross section and branching ratio for the 9.64 MeV state.
Neutrons produced by the carbon fusion reaction 12C(12C,n)23Mg play an important role in stellar nucleosynthesis. However, past studies have shown large discrepancies between experimental data and theory, leading to an uncertain cross section extrapo
lation at astrophysical energies. We present the first direct measurement that extends deep into the astrophysical energy range along with a new and improved extrapolation technique based on experimental data from the mirror reaction 12C(12C,p)23Na. The new reaction rate has been determined with a well-defined uncertainty that exceeds the precision required by astrophysics models. Using our constrained rate, we find that 12C(12C,n)23Mg is crucial to the production of Na and Al in Pop-III Pair Instability Supernovae. It also plays a non-negligible role in the production of weak s-process elements as well as in the production of the important galactic gamma-ray emitter 60Fe.